


oh, how we've grown

by SkyGem



Category: One Piece
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Missing Scene, Nostalgia, Return to Sabaody, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:09:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29391027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyGem/pseuds/SkyGem
Summary: The Straw Hat Pirates, and the two ships they call home.Written for a gift exchange.
Relationships: Franky & Usopp (One Piece), Roronoa Zoro & Usopp, Thousand Sunny & Usopp
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33
Collections: Sake Ceremony 2021





	oh, how we've grown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Scribblurri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribblurri/gifts).



> Hey guys, hope you enjoy this fic! It was written for our server's gift exchange, and is dedicated to the lovely and super talented Scribblurri! Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> This fic was originally only meant to be one chapter, but at the very last moment, my mind decided to make Merry's part separate, so please look forward to chapter two, which should be out in a couple of days.

The first sign Usopp has of Sabaody is the barest hint of movement on the horizon.

They've been travelling for days at this point, and the restlessness had been growing steadily within him all that time, having nearly reached a boiliing point by the time he finally catches sight of the first resin bubbles floating gently up into the air above the archipelago before popping as they leave Sabaody's unique atmosphere.

As soon as he realizes what he's seeing, a wide, wild grin spreads across his face, and he can barely even contain the restless energy surging through his limbs anymore.

After two years spent separated from his family, it had almost felt like this day would never arrive. But now, as he watches the tops of the first yarukiman trees come into view on the horizon, it finally hits him that this is all really _real._

It finally hits himthat before long, he's going to finally be _home_ again.

( _It's not all good feelings though._

_The site of the archipelago steadily growing on the horizon also brings back the vivid feelings of panic and helplessness from two years ago, the horror of seeing first Zoro and then Brook disappear right in front of him._

_The only thing overpowering the shame bubbling up inside him at not being able to do a single thing to save his crewmates was the sound of Luffy's heart-wrenching screech of his first mate's name, his panicked orders at them to_ **run** _._

_And maybe it makes him a bit of a coward, but it was almost a relief for Usopp when he was the next one to be sent flying by Kuma, if only because it meant he wouldn't have to see the rest of his crewmates wrenched away from him, wouldn't have to listen to Luffy's increasingly panicked begging for them to escape.)_

"Usopp-un?"

The familiar voice manages to snap Usopp back to reality, and he shakes his head, trying to focus on the present. He notices with distant surprise that the archipelago is a lot closer now than it had been a few moments before.

He turns to send a wan smile at his friend, reassuring him that, "I'm alright. Just a little overwhelmed, is all."

Heracles watches him quietly for a few moments, as if he doesn't quite believe Usopp's words. In the end, he decides to let the matter go.

The rest of the short distance to the archipelago is traversed in a quiet, anticipatory silence, as the two of them had already properly said their goodbyes before they had left the Boin archipelago. Which ends up being just as well, seeing as the moment they alight on the first of the trees that make up Sabaody, Usopp already feels an itch under his skin, a need to go tearing through the trees towards home.

Heracles watches him with arms crossed and head titled, somehow managing to appear amused despite the helmet covering his face.

"Go on-un," he says, watching Usopp shifting his weight from foot to foot impatiently. "I won't keep you-un. Give my regards to your captain-un."

Usopp grins, quick and wide, and darts in to throw his arms around Heracles in a tight hug.

"Thanks so much for everything you've done for me these past two years, master!"

And then, before Heracles even has a chance to respond, Usopp has already dashed off into the trees, following the tug of his heart towards the one place he's been yearning for these past two years.

( _Is it weird, he wonders, that he's been separated from his home and his crew so much longer now than the time they had spent together, and yet the ache of their absence is like a physical thing weighing on his heart?_ )

The green of the trees blur together as he dashes through them, powerful legs carrying him farther and faster than he would have thought possible two years ago.

He pauses every once in a while to make sure that he's still going in the right direction, and takes a moment to mentally thank Heracles for dropping him in the shipyard zone, so that he doesn't have to cross the whole archipelago just to get where he wants to be. He knows that he should probably go see Shakky and Rayleigh, and he _will._ Later. When this uncomfortable pressure in his chest has abated and he can finally breathe again. He will go and talk to Shakky and Rayleigh, but first he needs-

He _needs_ -

" _Sunny."_

His eyes land on her the moment he breaks through the trees, her name exhaled softly through his lips like a prayer, and tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Her warm reds and yellows and oranges stick out like a sore thumb against the cool greens and blues of her surroundings, and the sight of her friendly lion figurehead is like a soothing balm to his soul, which had grown weary from the loneliness of the past two years.

"Long time no see, lovely girl!" Usopp calls out, running his eyes over every inch of her as he approaches, drinking in the sight of his favourite place in the world.

From his vantage point on the ground, he can't see any of the others onboard to throw a rope ladder to him, though that's not much of a problem. Clever fingers seek out handholds without him having to think about it too much, and he quickly scales her hull and drops to the deck in a practiced way that speaks nothing of the time he had spent away from her.

There's something almost eerie about the quietness of the deck, an empty, lonely kind of silence that tugs at his heartstrings.

He heads to the front of the ship, climbing the stairs that lead up to her figurehead, and laying his hands on her sun-warmed mane. He presses chapped lips to the top of her head in a quick kiss, a murmured apology on his tongue for how long they had kept her waiting.

And maybe it's a fanciful thought, but as he pulls away, he can feel something in the air around the ship ease, a tension he hadn't noticed evaporating into nothingness.

Imagination or not, Usopp smiles and gives Sunny's head one last pat before turning to look out over the deck.

Everything is exactly as he remembers it, from the lawn chairs that Nami and Robin like to lounge in on sunny days to Sanji's empty coffee mug abandoned on the bench surrounding the main mast. It's almost like a scene frozen in time, and it has his limbs tingling with giddiness. It's all just ready for his crewmates to come right back and slot themselves into their usual places, and he hopes desperately that the reality of it can be that simple. 

After all - two years can change a person beyond recognition. And he doesn't want to give shape to the awful thoughts festering in the back of his mind by thinking them out loud, but a part of him worries that they might all have changed too much to fit together in the right way anymore.

The Straw Hat pirates all have their own rough pasts, their own jagged edges that had made it impossible to fit in anywhere else. But when the nine of them had come together, those jagged edges had slotted together perfectly to form a seamless whole.

He shakes his head, trying to get rid of those awful thoughts.

No use worrying about things that might not even be a problem.

He hops down from his position near the figurehead, descending the stairs down to their lawn. He wants to explore, to see if any of the others are here yet, and his first destination is the men's quarters.

The doorknob turns easily, and as soon as the door swings open, Usopp feels his heart jump in excitement.

The room is empty, but two of the bunks show signs of being slept in recently, and as he steps further into the room, his eyes catch on a pair of Zoro's weights resting against the lockers. His eyebrows furrow in surprise and confusion.

"How the hell did _Zoro_ of all people manage to get here before me?" he mumbles distractedly to himself as he crosses the room towards the bunks. He doesn't exactly have the motivation to start unpacking at the moment, so he drops his bags on the floor next to the closest bunk, and drops himself down on it afterwards with an exhausted sigh.

He had been intending to go check out his workshop afterwards and see if any of the others were onboard, but quite suddenly, he finds he doesn't really have the energy to get up anymore.

Their bunks have never been the softest things ever, but as he feels himself sinking into the familiar firmness of the mattress, he feels his eyelids slowly pulling downwards, comforted by the warm embrace of his own bed.

The Boin archipelago hadn't been the safest place on Earth, and Usopp had quickly learned to sleep with one eye open, but right here, right now? Even without any of his crewmates around to watch his back, he doesn't hesitate to let his guard down.

Sunny will let him know if danger approaches.

And as he drifts slowly off into a deep slumber, he imagines he hears the excited patter of tiny feet on the deck outside, the delighted giggles of a child waking up on the morning of their favourite holiday.

* * *

The next time Usopp opens his eyes, his body is heavy with sleep, all loose and relaxed, rested in a way he doesn't remember being in far too long.

There are no windows in the men's quarter's, but something about the heavy quiet hanging over the room tells him that afternoon has long since passed into night.

The lights in the room are still off, but there's the warm glow of lantern light from the direction of the table near the door.

And after a few moments of lying boneless in bed trying to turn his brain back on, Usopp realizes that he can hear the quiet rumble of Franky's familiar voice.

He seems to be telling some kind of story, and after a few more moments of listening, Usopp picks up the quiet rustle of cloth moving against steel. Every once in a while, there's a small hum of acknowledgement, or a quiet chuckle that Usopp immediately recognizes as Zoro.

He grins sleepily and sits up in bed, yawning loudly as he pushes his long curls out of his face.

Immediately, the sound of Franky's voice cuts off, and through the darkness of the room, Usopp can see two heads snap around in his direction.

"Usopp-bro?" asks Franky, his voice slightly louder than it had been just before. "You awake?"

Usopp makes a grunt of affirmation. "Hey guys, long time no see," he says around another yawn, getting up and stumbling over in their direction on bare feet. "You guys should've woken me up when you got back."

"We tried," Zoro says with a snicker. "You were out like a light, man."

Now that Usopp is closer, he can get a better look at how his crewmates have changed in the time apart.

Zoro has always been built thick and powerful, but he's still somehow managed to get broader in the shoulders, muscles filling in his frame and exuding a kind of power that Usopp could never hope to own. The most surprising change by far, however, is the long scar slashed savagely down the left side of his face, bisecting his eyebrow and rendering his eye shut.

Franky, meanwhile, looks even more inhuman than before, which Usopp supposes really shouldn't surprise him as much as it does. He eyes his friend's shoulders, then flicks his gaze over to the doorway, wondering how the hell the man had even managed to get into their room.

Usopp shakes off the thought, and drops to the floor in between his two friends.

"Guess I must have been more tired than I realized," he says with a laugh. "How long have you two been back at Sabaody?"

"I arrived almost a week ago now," Franky answers. "From what Shakky-san tells me, Zoro-bro got here a couple of days before that, though he didn't actually make it back to the Sunny until like three days ago."

Usopp snickers, already guessing what must have happened.

Zoro's face is deadpan as he says, "I was busy exploring the archipelago and getting challenged by bounty hunters left and right."

Franky and Usopp share an amused look, neither of them believing their friend in the least.

"Are either of the girls here yet?" Usopp asks Franky, changing the topic before Zoro has a chance to get indignant.

"Nami-sis got in just yesterday. I haven't seen much of her since I've been cooped up in my workshop, but as far as I can tell, she's been spending most of her time doing some shopping in town. Something about spending the past two years with a bunch of weird old men on a sky island and not knowing the next time we'll have access to a proper mall."

"A sky island?" asks Usopp, voice impressed. "Gee, she got really lucky, huh? Skypeia was rather pretty. You know, before Enel happened."

"What?" demands Franky, "You guys have all been to a sky island before? That's no fair, man! Are Brook and I the only ones hat haven't been to one?"

"Hey, it's not our fault!" Usopp retorts with a laugh. "It was just before you joined the crew. We had to stop a vengeful God who wanted to destroy his island and send it back down to Earth. The guy was totally crazy."

Franky shakes his head exasperatedly. "You know, when I first joined, I thought the whole Enies Lobby thing was a freak occurrence. There's something comforting about knowing you guys've been this crazy from the beginning."

"Oh, don't even get me started on what happened with Nami's island," Usopp says. "I haven't had a moment of peace since Luffy swept me up into his flow."

Zoro, who had been mostly quiet up until this moment, content to let his two friends carry on the conversation without him, raises a single eyebrow now.

"Would you want it any other way?" he asks.

"Not in a million years," Usopp fires back.

The immediate response brings a quick, savage grin to Zoro's face.

"And where have you been, these past two years?" he asks. "You seem to have gotten a lot stronger."

"Of course!" Usopp responds, lifting an arm to flex playfully in Zoro's direction. "Just look at these guns. If you think I spent my time lazing around doing nothing, then you'll be sorely mistaken."

"I wasn't talking about your body," Zoro says, rolling his eyes fondly. "Though that definitely looks up to par, finally."

Then the swordsman lays down the sword he had been polishing, and leans forward to tap a finger at Usopp's chest. "I mean here," he says, then raises his hand to tap Usopp's forehead, "And here."

Usopp stares, wide-eyed, at his friend for a few seconds, unable to speak around the painful lump in his throat.

"Come on man," he says in a wobbly voice as he turns his face away so he can wipe off the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "You can't just say something so nice. What the hell happened to you?"

"It's true though," says Zoro. And there's laughter in his voice, but Usopp can tell that he's being 100% genuine. It's there in the pride glimmering in his gaze and the fond tilt of his head. "You have a confidence now that wasn't there the last time I saw you."

"W-well of course I have to be confident!" Usopp blusters. "I'm on the crew of the future Pirate King! I have to be someone my captain can rely on, or else how am I going to face Luffy again after the way we were separated last time?"

There's a bark of laughter from Franky sitting next to him, and a heavy arm comes to rest around Usopp's shoulders.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, brother!" he praises.

Usopp beams with pride, basking in the warmth of his crewmates' company.

And as he leans further into the warmth of Franky's embrace, he can't help but think about how silly he had been to worry about their reunion.

No matter how much they change, the Straw Hats will always be his family, and the Thousand Sunny will always be there for them to come home to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, and please do leave a comment down below letting me know what you thought!


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